Creston residents will face a 5.61 per cent increase in municipal taxes as part of the town’s 2025-2029 financial plan.
During the February 25 town council meeting, Director of Finance and Corporate Services Steffan Klassen gave the final presentation for the town’s five-year financial plan.
Klassen says the plan was guided by a variety of considerations, one being that the town has no plans for any municipal contributions to development in the next five years.
It was also based on an estimated Consumer Price Index of 2.4 per cent for 2025 and three per cent each year until 2029.
However, Klassen notes that these CPI estimates were based on the uncertainty around the looming US tariff hike on some Canadian products and could change.
“There’s quite a bit of uncertainty just with tariffs, with how that’s going to affect us. For now, we’ll just operate under the assumption that there’s a lot of hot air behind it. We’ll see what happens because it is really a destructive, self-destructive kind of behaviour. So we’ll see where it goes. But it’s something that can change, and hopefully, it won’t affect us too badly.”
Other considerations included a continuation of RDCK service contracts (except IT service provisions), no reduction of service levels for departments, a continued new infrastructure reserve taxation of $30,000 per year, and an average three per cent wage and benefit increase for city staff over a five-year period.
Key expenditure areas include emergency management, fire protection, and development services.
There’s also a focus on growing the town’s reserves, specifically for infrastructure replacement, fire protection, and green initiatives.
Klassen says the 5.61 per cent municipal tax increase proposed for 2025 is driven mainly by inflationary increases, infrastructure reserve funding, and police tax, which he estimates will equate to about 10 per cent this year.
For the average property valued at $250,000, the municipal tax increase will result in an additional $56. For properties valued at $400,000, the increase equals $90, and $124 for properties valued at $550,000.
Property taxes and fees will continue to increase in line with inflation for the next five years.
The plan is scheduled to be adopted in March.
To view the plan, click here.
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